


Why Does Death Smell So Beautiful?

by LadyHikariofDarkness



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Hanahaki Disease, Kinda, M/M, Songfic, the lyrics were appropriate for the story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-02-01 05:50:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21404998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyHikariofDarkness/pseuds/LadyHikariofDarkness
Summary: Why is choking on flowers the scariest way to go? Why is forgetting everything just to live that much more sad?
Relationships: Jeremy Dooley/Gavin Free/Ryan Haywood/Michael Jones/Jack Pattillo/Geoff Ramsey
Comments: 3
Kudos: 52





	Why Does Death Smell So Beautiful?

Gaps in the memory. A face scratched out with black ink. A body that moved shapelessly through water-filled locations. Jeremy woke up, breathing clearly. It had happened again. Another person whose affections were not his. Even a name was like looking for a coin in the dark. Jeremy took one breath.

In through his mouth.

Out through his nose.

Nothing blocking the movement of air. Not even something catching as he breathed. Every unimpeded breath was like acid. His heart constricted painfully, not even needed the assistance of deadly roots this time. Something felt wet on his cheeks. He hesitantly reaches up and felt tears streaming down his face.

_ I remember tears streaming down your face when I said “I’ll never let you go”. _

\---

Ryan frowned as he stood in front of a small gravestone. He had heard about the disease, everyone had. Hanahaki, the disease that slowly kills you with flowers if you love someone and it’s unrequited. Only two things are known to cure it: the target of their affections returning their love or surgery. One is difficult, but promises happiness. The other is easy, but leads to more suffering. Most afflicted teeter on the edge of a decision once the Hanahaki starts to worsen. Do you want to die remembering the one who won’t ever love you back or live with holes in your heart and memory, knowing that someone out there stole your heart and now your memories?

He never thought he would have someone love him enough to spit up flowers. 

He…

He never thought someone would love him enough to die with their memories.

Guilt is a powerful thing, isn’t it?

_ When all those shadows almost killed your light. _

\---

Jack has always been terrified of one day being restricted by roots and petals. Ever since he came home one day to find his mother dead on the floor, beautiful flowers growing out of her skin, her mouth, her eyes, and was told about Hanahaki. The revelation that his family possessed a rare mutation of the infamous disease that tore through every opening in the body instead of simply suffocating you. That one day he might wake up smothered in beautiful, yet deadly blooms.

He couldn’t help but research the flowers that had murdered his mother. Yellow carnations grew from her eyes.

**Disdain, rejection, or disappointment.**

The rest of them were yellow chrysanthemums.

**Slighted love.**

He had no doubt they told an accurate story of how his mother never had her flowers retreat and disappear. It angered and terrified him that someone would be willing to coldly reject and even hate another whose love was proven irrevocably true. What if that ended up being him? Left to rot and slowly suffer the agony of flowers and rejection.

_ I remember you said “Don’t leave me here alone.” _

\---

He couldn’t blame her. If she could control who was chosen by those deadly flowers, Hanahaki might not be as large of an issue if every match was willing. Though that wasn’t quite true, was it? Hanahaki came from unrequited love. She loved someone else. She had coughed up petals on their wedding day, tears streaming down her face. Irrefutable evidence. They had been dating and happy for years. 

He wanted to throw something when he found out what flower it was and what it meant. Snapdragons: graciousness and strength, but can also mean  **deception and presumption** .

Michael wasn’t stupid. The stupid flower told him his wife had been lying and he was just assuming she loved him. But that was then, and this is now. He couldn’t keep dwelling on the past. But hey, if he just so happened to leave the room whenever someone mentioned his almost wedding, that couldn’t be helped.

_ When all that’s dead and gone and passed tonight. _

\---

Geoff felt the burn of the alcohol more than he tasted it. Alcohol couldn’t be good for plants and that’s what he wanted. Alcohol couldn’t be good for love and that’s also what he wanted.

Can’t cough up flowers if he’s too drunk to even see faces, now can he?

It showed results too. Only one other person disintegrated into sand lay in the edge of his mind. That was before alcohol became Geoff’s cure. Before he knew better.

How was he supposed to predict it when no one in his family had it? No extra bones for doctors to tell him he could potentially die a sweet smelling death.

At least sleep couldn’t make him find love.

_ Just close your eyes, the sun is going down _

\---

Gavin shook with sobs, clutching a single pearl white petal in his hands. In front of him were several bodies. Bodies belonging to his best friend, his best friend’s girlfriend, and her own friend. Hanahaki was always portrayed as slow and serene, a bouquet on top of a peaceful dead body.

No.

Now he knew that wasn’t the case.

Not when he watched as the disease of flowers and love violently tear through the throats of the three people lying in a puddle of blood in front of him. The scene kept looping in his brain. Dan’s girlfriend confronting him with the evidence that he wasn’t in love with her. Irrefutable evidence, something you couldn’t disprove even if you wanted to. She had Hanahaki. Dan, of course, tried to deny it. Then he started coughing and coughing and coughing until that damned white petal slowly fluttered to the ground and Dan sent a guilty look his way. It was a right mess, but that wasn’t where it stopped. No, a quiet revelation from Dan’s girlfriend’s friend made everything exponentially worse. She’s had Hanahaki for her friend for months. Gavin almost expected flowers to start blocking his throat too at the rate things were heading.

Then the fighting started. Everyone was arguing and Gavin was just curled up into a ball on the couch trying to keep himself out of the situation. Something happened though. The Hanahaki had a reaction or they were all further in than they thought, Gavin wasn’t quite sure. All he knew was suddenly they all started coughing blood as well as petals. It was like someone broke the dam and it was all just pouring out of them in a never ending stream. All three were clutching their throats and slowly started to sink to the floor. Gavin was frozen, stuck watching three people succumb to Hanahaki.

And here he was, wishing all the pain would just go away.

_ You’ll be alright. No one can hurt you now. _

\---

One by one they all woke up for the day. Gavin was up first, nightmares always making him skittish in the morning. As he trembled, broader arms wrapped around him and comforted him, Jeremy. Ryan was next, not quite as shaken but a keen eye could see the haunted look in his eye. After him, Geoff rose with a tired groan, though no alcohol induced pain kept him from opening his eyes to the morning light shining through the curtains. Michael would always wake up next from all the movement and tiredly glare at all his partners, while also keeping an eye out for any unnoticed petals. Finally, Jack would rise once the light had traveled enough to hit him in the eyes. He moved his hand to check his neck, relieved to find no unwanted lumps. 

It had been rough for them to handle the struggle of Hanahaki. Nightmares, fears, distrust all still ran through them, but they were all confident to face it together. Together as the people who got rid of each other’s unrequited love, one petal at a time.

_ Come morning light, you and I’ll be safe and sound. _


End file.
